We pray
another's child
will die so ours might live,
but who do we believe will hear
such prayers?
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Author Notes
In 1904, late in his life, Mark Twain dictated a very short story called The War Prayer, which remained unpublished in his lifetime at his family's request. He wanted it published posthumously and got his wish when it was included in an anthology in 1923. You can easily Google it and find the full text on several sites.
Why did his family wish this unpublished when so much of what he wrote was controversial? This story is an anti-war statement prompted by the 1899-1902 Phillipines-American War, which Twain opposed. In it, a man walks into a church where people are praying for victory and safety for their soldiers, and he reminds them that the unstated flip side of their prayer is that the other side lose and their troops be obliterated.
My cinquain compresses his message into a few words and asks, Do we really believe God wants to leave widows and orphans on either side? Prayers in the last line is pronounced as one syllable.
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